The HBO series "Westworld" takes place at an amusement park where guests can interact with lifelike robots. Yet the producers used real elephants in a recent episode that featured guests riding them in an area of the park that's supposed to resemble colonial India.
Using live elephants for human entertainment is wrong. Sign the petition to tell HBO to promise not to use them again and donate to an elephant sanctuary to make up for this use.
The two elephants were from Have Trunk Will Travel. During an undercover investigation of the company in 2013, Animal Defenders International (ADI) shot a disturbing video of the elephants crying out in pain as they're shot with stun guns and beaten with bullhooks, sticks with sharp hooks on the ends. A baby elephant was hit on the head and dragged by its trunk.
By using these elephants from this company, HBO and the producers of "Westworld" are supporting animal cruelty. In response to the growing outrage over this, HBO released a statement saying the animals on its series are "treated with the utmost care and respect for their health, safety and well-being."
But according to ADI, one of those elephants, a 51-year-old named Tai, cries out in the scene because she's being shocked with a stun gun to force her to perform.
Like the "hosts" of Westworld, the elephants used on this series should not be real. Please sign and share this petition telling HBO not to use live elephants and to make a donation to an elephant sanctuary that treats animals with the respect they deserve.
Photo credit: hotblack
